September 5th, 2006
Hotel federation meet in Chennai
Chennai will play host to the 41st national convention of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) in October 2005. The convention, titled The Road Ahead, will focus on infrastructure development for tourism growth. The 3-day convention will be held between October 15-17 at the Chennai Convention Centre, Nandambakkam.ÂÂ
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will inaugurate the convention where over 2,000 delegates are expected to participate, said M P Purushothaman, president of FHRAI & SIHRA. “The theme of the convention has been carefully chosen keeping in mind the rapid developments taking place in the country. The IT and ITES sector has propelled India to the top of the world stage wherein many MNCs have set up shop or are opening new facilities all over India. This involves many foreigners coming into India for business development. Together with this segment and the tourist arrivals, the demand for quality hotel rooms is only bound to go up. The government needs to be more practical in its viewing of the hotel industry and extend all support to this important industry, which is the second largest foreign exchange earner for India,” he pointed out.
Purushothaman further said, “There will be a demand of over 90,000 guest rooms in all categories in the next five years. It is envisaged that an amount in excess of Rs. 11,000 crore will be required for infrastructure development for promoting tourism and creating these new capacities and upgrading the older ones. The government should, therefore, be more pragmatic and provide a level playing field for the hotel industry on a par with other industries, so that the momentum gained on the tourism/hotel front is not lost because of poor infrastructure and lack of foresight on behalf of the planners and decision makers.”
Elaborating on the various issues which were hurting the hotel industry and impinging on its growth, Purushothaman said, “They should be given the same benefits available to the IT and ITES sectors like in electricity tariffs, sales-tax rationalisation, reduction in taxes and duties on liquor and special concession on stamp duty.”
He felt that luxury tax applied in India should be done away with to give value to the consumers. Further, since land is scarce and demand outstrips supply, the government should relax the FSI rules after analysing the situation correctly depending on the city and the hotel/s concerned. The government should also make available to hoteliers, the government land available in the central business district (CBD) in cities across India to promote quality hotels, he added.
“Today, while the government is also interested in promoting tourism and offering various incentives to different sectors, the hotel industry alone has not been given the real impetus for growth. For example, in air-conditioning, which is an absolute necessity for a hot country like India, the government should extend the benefit of lower electricity tariff, which they extend to other industries like manufacturing,” he added.ÂÂ
Shankar Menon, vice president and chairman, Convention Organising Committee, said, “Tourism and business travel are completely dependent on hotels and the enormous revenue that can be generated via tourism and travel can only be realised if
hotel resources are adequate and meet international standards.”
Menon added, “We believe that accelerated growth in the hotel industry has become a necessity in the current economic scenario, with more and more hotel rooms needed in the business and budget hotel segments. This cannot be achieved without a proactive, fully informed and enlightened policy towards the hotel industry followed at both the Central and state levels.”
The 3-day convention will discuss and highlight the progress and problems faced by the industry and what needs to be done to sustain the growth in future and take advantage of India becoming the IT capital of the world and also among the top 20 tourism destinations in the world, said T Natarajan (CEO, GRT Hotels and Resorts) and R Rangachari, secretary-general, South Indian Hotels and Restaurants Association (SIHRA).